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Arne Slot, the Liverpool manager, fears that his team will be without the influential goal-keeper Alisson Becker for a “few weeks” after sustaining an injury during their recent Premier League clash on October 5. In the Saturday afternoon kick-off at the Selhurst Park in London, the visitors Liverpool managed to defeat Crystal Palace 1-0 with an early goal from Diogo Jota, but their goal-keeper Alisson Becker went off after pulling his hamstring in the 79th minute of the contest.
In the first half, Diogo Jota gave Liverpool the early lead in the ninth minute after Cody Gakpo slid in a low ball inside the box across the left, which the Colombian forward slotted under Crystal Palace goal-keeper Dean Henderson. The hosts, who were most looking to play on the counters, tried hard to break down the Liverpool defence, and despite the absence of Alisson Bekcer, who had pulled his hamstring while making a clearance just 11 minutes before regulation time, they couldn’t get past the Merseyside club on the day.
With Alisson it is clear he will be out for maybe a few weeks: Arne Slot
After seeing his team register a vital 1-0 win, Liverpool manager Arne Slot, who had replaced Jurgen Klopp in the Liverpool job at the start of the season, was very concerned about Alisson Becker’s injury during his interview with the BBC Match of the Day. He was quoted as saying, “With Alisson, it is clear he will be out for maybe a few weeks,” which would mean that the goal-keeper will not be in action for Liverpool after the international break either.
Arne Slot was pleased with the scheduling of games for his team as Liverpool had to play against Bologna in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night before a short turnaround for the trip to Crystal Palace in London for a Saturday afternoon kick-off. The 46-year-old said, “Maybe this is something the FA should look at - if you play Wednesday evening why do we have an early kick-off in an away game? Or they have to look at me and rotate all my players, maybe it is also bad luck, I don't know.”
Moreover, with goal-keeper Caoimhin Kelleher not featuring in the Liverpool squad because of illness, Vitezslav Jaros replaced Alisson Becker for the latter stages of the Premier League clash against Crystal Palace. Arne Slot was quite happy with the back-up goal-keeper’s performance and remarked, “The positive thing is that Jaros did really well last season when on loan. He was champion and won the cup. He wanted to play desperately. At this club we need three good goalkeepers. He was outstanding today.”
